Reviews by MadeInOregon:

THE APPEARANCE of the Imperiale Stout is of a very standard-looking stout, not a big, bad imperial. Everything does look in order in that regard though: thin, goopy mocha foam and lacing and a just-about-opaque black body.

THE SMELL is rather faint but still nice. Sweet cocoa, dark chocolate, marshmallows were all things I picked up. The faintness is surprisingly though, even when the beer has warmed.

THE TASTE is generally sweet with a dry, bitter finish. There's a slight wineyness to it and even a bit of bourbon, but for the most part this is just a micro stout with lots of alcohol (Alcohol is well-hidden and balanced, however). The main characteristics are a very sweet, chocolate start with a dry, hoppy, and roasty finish and a fairly strong coffee and bitter chocolate aftertaste.

THE FEEL for Ninkasi's imperial stout is smooth and surprisingly thin. The label says it is "surprisingly smooth", but I would say "disappointingly smooth" considering it's described as an "imperial" and Ninkasi has a reputation for kicking your taste buds in the face. Really, this feels like a very normal, straightforward micro stout--a good one, but not an imperial. There's just nothing overly big about this.

CONCLUSION: This is the least insane Ninkasi offering I've tried. It's a solid stout and should be appreciated as such--in the same way one would approach, say, a Lion Stout. It's big, but not thaaat big. A definite score for stout fans (of which I am one), but a disappointment if the "imperial" is what drew you to this. (1,643 characters)

22oz bottle. I love how this is called "High Gravity" here, like anyone would look at a north of a 9% ABV brew any other way.

This beer pours a solid, light diffusing black, with the barest of basal cola edges, and three fingers of puffy, frothy, and rocky Dockers tan head, which leaves some decent pockmarked inner city wall lace around the glass as it gently subsides.

The carbonation is fairly low, but supportive enough in its plain fizziness, the body a strong medium-full weight, and generally smooth, the alcohol slowly chipping away, Chinese water torture style. It finishes on the sweet side, the caramel malt, chocolate, and booze lording it over the still relevant hops.

Not a bad version of the style, but that yeast weirdness has got to go, man. Other than that, the hops do well to more or less balance out the typical big stout flavours, and once the alcohol comes along, everything just sort of works itself out, y'know? Yeah, the rest of this is gonna go great with some spicy Hunan chicken - order up! (1,503 characters)

Roast barley, coffee, and other dark malt notes greet the nose, followed by some sweeter yeast esters, and a hint of molasses, spice, and a slight herbal note.

Flavors follow the aroma closely with an emphasis on the malts - raw cocoa, toffee, and burnt sugar give a slightly acrid bent to the profile, though it mellows out with a spicy bitterness leading into an herbaceous drying finish. Hop presence is moderate throughout. Well balanced, but not greater than the sum of its parts.

Medium bodied, faintly prickly and moderately warming, though by no means fusel.

A decent stout, though slightly muddled with perhaps an excess of specialty malt or roast barley for my taste. A little goes a long way. (956 characters)

Poured a then tan head on a black body.The aroma is good. Big dose of roasted malt, black licorice and coffee.The taste delivers on the roasted malt and strong pine bitterness. Though the transition through the profile is abrupt.The texture is smooth with moderate carbonation.Enjoyable if you like a mixture of roasted maltiness with strong bitter. (353 characters)